thewastelandplan

@thewastelandplan is a community conservation effort spearheaded by @nikicesta.
The goal is to travel and clean polluted coasts to:

1) spread conservation awareness around the global plastic pollution

2) support in the ban of single-use plastics

3) recycle waste into creative items  

[An update: 19 months into the plan, 71 cleanups completed across Toronto, Georgian Bay, Cayman Islands, Panama, Costa Rica, and Italy. The movement continues to grow and evolve, stay tuned.]


My most eye opening expedition was as a marine conservation educator in the remote pacific of the Galapagos islands. It is here I recognized that the over consumption of single-use plastics still exists even in the most remote and pristine parts of the world. The need for a global citizen science movement is at an all time high. We cannot sit back and wait for environmental policy to be passed, we each must take small consistent actions everyday to make global change. 

My ‘setting off’ plan in action (October 2018) in Toronto is to donate, trade, or recycle what I don't need and hit the road to make a change. Whilst preparing to flee the Canadian winter for polluted coasts, I have set out in my own backyard around the GTA and the Wasaga Beach area on weekly basis to facilitate solo clean ups.

@thewastelandplan allows me to spread conservation awareness through cleanups and share knowledge through social content via #POTD, podcast of the day which spans all sorts of environmental topics from ocean plastics, to climate change, navigating careers in marine conservation, to becoming a self-made ‘ecoprener’! 

Plastic Awareness Campaigns include:

1) ‘Wastelanders’, the collaboration with past students and colleagues who support my movement and would like to act as ‘wastelanders’, or ambassadors of the movement by facilitating cleanups in their own community. you can be an ambassador 

2) ‘We wear our waste’ includes artistic media campaigns in collaboration with local clothing brands. the goal is to present, through innovation and clothing creation, that we must own our own personal plastic footprint. The billion dollar industry of fast fashion must go; shop minimal, shop local 

3) ‘Sport to Support’ includes two organized sporting events for the month of December 2019 which raise awareness of the global plastic crisis. 100% of your donations will go toward an ocean plastics organization that is combating the crisis on a grassroots level. Donations currently going to ‘Little Cayman Cleanup Crew/Full Moon Pickup 

Link to an article written by ‘The Marine Diaries’ on thewastelandplan movement: 

https://www.themarinediaries.com/tmd-blog/thewastelandplan-movement?format=amp

Reach out if you would like to get involved in any capacity, [email redacted]

 

Follow the movement for social content and updates!

@thewastelandplan




setting out October 2018